Section: Social Complexity / Transport infrastructure
Variable: Canal (All coded records)
Talking about Transport infrastructure, canals refers to canals built and/or maintained by the polity (that is, code 'present' even if the polity did not build a canal, but devotes resources to maintaining it).  
Canal
#  Polity  Coded Value Tags Year(s) Edit Desc
1 Early Qing present Confident Expert -
e.g. The Grand Canal. Canal-transport continued to play an important economic role in the link between north and south China, and the upkeep and expansion undertaken during the Ming dynasty was continued under the Qing in varying degrees. [1] At the end of the Grand Canal was Hangzhou, connected with Ningbo port through the Eastern Zhejiang Canal, which served as the economic lifeline of the development of Hangzhou. The key to this development was the connection between the water system in the city and the outside through canals and irrigation networks. [2]

[1]: (Smith, 2015, p.83, 216)

[2]: (Fu and Cao 2019, p.329)


2 Late Qing present Confident Expert -
e.g. The Grand Canal [1] Overall, the canal systems declined drastically near the end of the Qing with increased silting in the Yellow River. The Board of Works was responsible for maintaining all official buildings, granaries, official communication routes, dykes, dams, and irrigation systems. [2]

[1]: (Wang 2016, 196)

[2]: (Smith 2015, 103)


3 Early Formative Basin of Mexico absent Inferred Expert -
canals for transportation purposes would not be developed until the later Postclassic around Tenochtitlan, when they were needed to logistically transport goods through chinampas, dyke systems, and the city itself. [1]

[1]: Hassig, Ross. (1985) Trade, tribute, and transportation: The sixteenth-century political economy of the Valley of Mexico. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, pg.56-66.


4 Middle Formative Basin of Mexico absent Inferred Expert -
canals for transportation purposes would not be developed until the later Postclassic around Tenochtitlan, when they were needed to logistically transport goods through chinampas, dyke systems, and the city itself. [1]

[1]: Hassig, Ross. (1985) Trade, tribute, and transportation: The sixteenth-century political economy of the Valley of Mexico. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, pg.56-66.


5 Late Formative Basin of Mexico absent Inferred Expert -
Canals for transportation purposes would not be developed until the later Postclassic around Tenochtitlan, when they were needed to logistically transport goods through chinampas, dyke systems, and the city itself. [1]

[1]: Hassig, Ross. (1985) Trade, tribute, and transportation: The sixteenth-century political economy of the Valley of Mexico. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, pg.56-66.


6 Terminal Formative Basin of Mexico absent Inferred Expert -
Canals for transportation purposes would not be developed until the later Postclassic around Tenochtitlan, when they were needed to logistically transport goods through chinampas, dyke systems, and the city itself. [1]

[1]: Hassig, Ross. (1985) Trade, tribute, and transportation: The sixteenth-century political economy of the Valley of Mexico. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, pg.56-66.


7 Hawaii I unknown Suspected Expert -
-
8 Hawaii II absent Inferred Expert -
-
9 Hawaii III unknown Suspected Expert -
-
10 Kingdom of Hawaii - Kamehameha Period unknown Suspected Expert -
-
11 Cahokia - Early Woodland absent Confident Expert -
-
12 Cahokia - Middle Woodland absent Confident Expert -
-
13 Cahokia - Late Woodland I absent Confident Expert -
-
14 Cahokia - Late Woodland II absent Confident Expert -
-
15 Cahokia - Late Woodland III absent Confident Expert -
-
16 Cahokia - Emergent Mississippian I absent Confident Expert -
-
17 Cahokia - Sand Prairie absent Confident Expert -
-
18 Oneota absent Confident Expert -
Approved by Peter Peregrine.
19 Early Illinois Confederation absent Confident Expert -
not mentioned in the literature and not visible archaeologically. Inference approved by Peter Peregrine.
20 Cahokia - Lohman-Stirling absent Confident Expert -
-
21 Cahokia - Moorehead absent Confident Expert -
-
22 Cahokia - Emergent Mississippian II absent Confident Expert -
-
23 Funan I present Confident Expert -
’Archaeological research at Oc Eco in Vietnam and Angkor Borei in Cambodia, two walled and moated urban centres linked by a canal system, have revealed the adoption of Sanskrit names for kings, use of the Bhrahmi script, worship of Hindu gods, and adherence to the teachings of the Buddha, wooden statues of whom have been uncovered, containing pits for cremated human remains. Grave offerings found in these pits include gold plaques embellished with sacred Buddhist inscriptions and images of Hindu deities.’ [1] ’In the 1920s Pierre Paris overflew this area [the flat plains surrounding the Mekong and its Bassac arm below Phnom Penh] and took a series of photographs. These revealed a network of canals crossing the landscape, and various nodal points where they met. One such junction revealed a huge enceinte demarcated by five moats and ramparts encoding 1,112 acres (450 ha). It was here that Louis Malleret excavated in 1944. The site was known as Oc Eco [...].’ [2] ’The Funanese had already built a canal network near their port, and a canal 90 km long linking their port to an inland city, Angkor Borei, in which channels and bray were constructed for flood control and dry-season water supply, but the canal is considered to have been for transportation, and within a trading polite, not for irrigation.’ [3] ’Clearly Funan’s rise had two sources: the productivity of its agrarian system and the area’s strategic location opposite the Isthmus of Kra. A network of canals connect the coast to Funan’s agricultural upstream, centered on its urban ‘‘capital’’ at the archeological site of Angkor Borei in modern southern Cambodia. It is unclear whether this canal network required a new level of techno- logical competence or a central leadership for its construction (Malleret:1959-1963; Liere: 1980; Stark: 1998, 2003, 2006a, 2006b; Stark and Sovath: 2001).’ [4] ’The FUNAN maritime state (150-550 C.E.) was responsible for the con- struction of an extensive canal network, and at its main center of ANGKOR BOREI the EASTERN BARAY covers an area of about 200 by 100 meters (660 by 330 ft.).’ [5] ’The canal linking Oc Eo and Angkor Borei is 90 kilome- ters (54 mi.) long.’ [6] The latest archaeological survey work by Evans using LiDAR attests to the large extent of irrigation systems from the fifth century onward [7]

[1]: (Higham 2013, p.586)

[2]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)

[3]: (Vickery 1998, p. 307)

[4]: (Hall 2010, pp. 48-49)

[5]: (Higham 2004, p. 41)

[6]: (Higham 2004, p. 62)

[7]: (Evans 2016)


24 Funan II present Confident Expert -
’Archaeological research at Oc Eco in Vietnam and Angkor Borei in Cambodia, two walled and moated urban centres linked by a canal system, have revealed the adoption of Sanskrit names for kings, use of the Bhrahmi script, worship of Hindu gods, and adherence to the teachings of the Buddha, wooden statues of whom have been uncovered, containing pits for cremated human remains. Grave offerings found in these pits include gold plaques embellished with sacred Buddhist inscriptions and images of Hindu deities.’ [1] ’In the 1920s Pierre Paris overflew this area [the flat plains surrounding the Mekong and its Bassac arm below Phnom Penh] and took a series of photographs. These revealed a network of canals crossing the landscape, and various nodal points where they met. One such junction revealed a huge enceinte demarcated by five moats and ramparts encoding 1,112 acres (450 ha). It was here that Louis Malleret excavated in 1944. The site was known as Oc Eco [...].’ [2] ’The Funanese had already built a canal network near their port, and a canal 90 km long linking their port to an inland city, Angkor Borei, in which channels and bray were constructed for flood control and dry-season water supply, but the canal is considered to have been for transportation, and within a trading polite, not for irrigation.’ [3] ’Clearly Funan’s rise had two sources: the productivity of its agrarian system and the area’s strategic location opposite the Isthmus of Kra. A network of canals connect the coast to Funan’s agricultural upstream, centered on its urban ‘‘capital’’ at the archeological site of Angkor Borei in modern southern Cambodia. It is unclear whether this canal network required a new level of techno- logical competence or a central leadership for its construction (Malleret:1959-1963; Liere: 1980; Stark: 1998, 2003, 2006a, 2006b; Stark and Sovath: 2001).’ [4]
’The canal linking Oc Eo and Angkor Borei is 90 kilometers (54 mi.) long.’ [5]

[1]: (Higham 2013, p.586)

[2]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)

[3]: (Vickery 1998, p. 307)

[4]: (Hall 2010, pp. 48-49)

[5]: (Higham 2004, p. 62)


25 Chenla present Confident Expert -
While the Chenla may have contributed little to nothing to the creation of new canals, transportation canals existed from the Funanese. ’The Funanese had already built a canal network near their port, and a canal 90 km long linking their port to an inland city, Angkor Borei, in which channels and bray were constructed for flood control and dry-season water supply, but the canal is considered to have been for transportation, and within a trading polite, not for irrigation.’ [1]

[1]: (Vickery 1998, 307)


26 Early Angkor present Confident Expert -
‘The importance of preserving this watershed as a source of water for the rice paddies and to fill the city’s transportation canals and municipal water system was clearly understood by the earliest inhabitants of the area’ [1] ‘The Rolous River, along which the first capital city of Angkor, Hariharalaya, was founded in the 9th century A.D. Note how the river bed was wide and straightened in ancient times to increase capacity and facilitate transport.’ [2]

[1]: (Engelhardt 1995, p.19)

[2]: (Engelhardt 1995, p.21)


27 Classical Angkor present Confident Expert -
‘The importance of preserving this watershed as a source of water for the rice paddies and to fill the city’s transportation canals and municipal water system was clearly understood by the earliest inhabitants of the area’ [1] ‘The Rolous River, along which the first capital city of Angkor, Hariharalaya, was founded in the 9th century A.D. Note how the river bed was wide and straightened in ancient times to increase capacity and facilitate transport.’ [2]

[1]: (Engelhardt 1995, p.19)

[2]: (Engelhardt 1995, p.21)


28 Late Angkor present Inferred Expert -
‘The importance of preserving this watershed as a source of water for the rice paddies and to fill the city’s transportation canals and municipal water system was clearly understood by the earliest inhabitants of the area’ [1] ‘The Rolous River, along which the first capital city of Angkor, Hariharalaya, was founded in the 9th century A.D. Note how the river bed was wide and straightened in ancient times to increase capacity and facilitate transport.’ [2] ’Not only did the productivity of marginal lands therefore begin to fall, but the complex of transport canals and agricultural waterworks on which Angkor’s economy rested became clogged.’ [3]

[1]: (Engelhardt 1995, p.19)

[2]: (Engelhardt 1995, p.21)

[3]: (Lieberman 2003, p. 239)


29 Khmer Kingdom present Confident Expert -
‘The importance of preserving this watershed as a source of water for the rice paddies and to fill the city’s transportation canals and municipal water system was clearly understood by the earliest inhabitants of the area’ [1] ‘The Rolous River, along which the first capital city of Angkor, Hariharalaya, was founded in the 9th century A.D. Note how the river bed was wide and straightened in ancient times to increase capacity and facilitate transport.’ [2] ’Not only did the productivity of marginal lands therefore begin to fall, but the complex of transport canals and agricultural waterworks on which Angkor’s economy rested became clogged.’ [3]

[1]: (Engelhardt 1995, p.19)

[2]: (Engelhardt 1995, p.21)

[3]: (Lieberman 2003, p. 239)


30 Ayutthaya present Confident Expert -
In describing Ayutthaya itself, a seventeenth-century Dutch source writes that the "greater part of the city is one great conglomeration of streets, alleys, canals and ditches." [1]

[1]: (Van Ravenswaay 1910, p. 13)


31 Rattanakosin present Confident Expert -
"In the 1830s, canals were built east and west from Bangkok to serve as highways for trade and military movements" [1] .

[1]: (Baker and Phongpaichit 2009, p. 48)


32 Kediri Kingdom present Confident Expert -
Kediri pioneered a system of water management for both transportation and irrigation. [1]

[1]: (Sedwayati in Ooi 2004 (b), 707)


33 Majapahit Kingdom present Inferred Expert -
the preceding Kediri Kingdom pioneered a system of water management for both transportation and irrigation. [1]

[1]: (Sedwayati in Ooi 2004 (b), 707)


34 Mataram Sultanate present Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: (Moertono 2009)


35 Chuuk - Early Truk absent Confident Expert -
Not applicable to such small islands.
36 Chuuk - Late Truk absent Confident Expert -
Not applicable to such small islands.
37 Neolithic Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
38 Prepalatial Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
39 Old Palace Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
40 New Palace Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
41 Monopalatial Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
42 Postpalatial Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
43 Final Postpalatial Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
44 Archaic Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
45 Classical Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
46 Hellenistic Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
47 Roman Empire - Principate present Confident Expert -
E.g. Late 1st BCE. Ferrara - Padua, built by Augustus. Claudius "employed 30,000 men for eleven years in cutting an outlet to the Liris for the waters of the Fucine Lake, and thereby saved them from repeated inundation a large area of the Marsian lands" [1] "Legionaries’ engineering and construction skills were put to use for obviously military purposes (fortifications), but also sometimes for improving infrastructure by building canals or bridges, or in mining and quarrying." [2]

[1]: (Allcroft and Haydon 1902, 121)

[2]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 48)


48 Roman Empire - Dominate present Confident Expert -
Canals present from earlier periods and maintained during Roman Dominate.
49 East Roman Empire present Confident Expert -
-
50 Byzantine Empire I present Inferred Expert -
Preiser-Kapeller says present. [1] Maintenance of existing canals.

[1]: (Johannes Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences)


51 The Emirate of Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
52 Byzantine Empire II present Confident Expert -
Preiser-Kapeller says present. [1] Maintenance of existing canals. Need examples.

[1]: (Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences)


53 Byzantine Empire III present Confident Expert -
Preiser-Kapeller says present. [1] Maintenance of existing canals. Need examples.

[1]: (Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences)


54 Cuzco - Late Formative unknown Suspected Expert -
-
55 Cuzco - Early Intermediate II unknown Suspected Expert -
-
56 Cuzco - Late Intermediate I present Inferred Expert -
Huatanay River was "probably" canalised. [1] AD: There is no confirmation on whether this canalised river was used for transport.

[1]: (Covey 2006, 122)


57 Cuzco - Late Intermediate II present Inferred Expert -
Huatanay River was "probably" canalised. [1]

[1]: (Covey 2006a, 122)


58 Inca Empire present Confident Expert -
Rivers of the Cuzco Valley were made into canals. [1]

[1]: (Bauer 2004, 106)


59 Spanish Empire I present Confident Expert -
"Vilanova de Castelló (Valencia) borrowed heavily over several generations between 1587 and 1645 to build and maintain an irrigation canal." [1]

[1]: (Casey 2002, 42) Casey, James. 2002. Early Modern Spain: A Social History. New York: Routledge. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2SNTRSWT


60 Deccan - Neolithic unknown Suspected Expert -
-
61 Deccan - Iron Age unknown Suspected Expert -
-
62 Magadha - Maurya Empire present Confident Expert -
the conquest of the former Achaemenid Satrapy of Sindh resulted in the acquisition of areas that had pre-existing irrigation canals and a large network of wells and other infrastructure. [1]

[1]: Samad, Rafi U. The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and Indus Valleys. Algora Publishing, 2011. p. 34


63 Kadamba Empire unknown Suspected Expert -
-
64 Chalukyas of Badami unknown Suspected Expert -
-
65 Rashtrakuta Empire unknown Suspected Expert -
-
66 Chalukyas of Kalyani unknown Suspected Expert -
-
67 Vijayanagara Empire present Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Burton Stein, The New Cambridge History of India: Vijayanagara (1990), p. 35


68 Mughal Empire present Confident Expert -
Canals and water works were present, although irrigation systems were not common. [1]

[1]: Link


69 British Empire II present Confident Expert -
-
70 Haudenosaunee Confederacy - Early absent Confident Expert -
-
71 Haudenosaunee Confederacy - Late absent Confident Expert -
-
72 Canaan absent Confident Expert -
-
73 Phoenician Empire absent Inferred Expert -
While irrigation canals might have been used, there is no evidence for canals as water transport and they would have been unnecessary for island cities in any event.
74 Yisrael absent Confident Expert -
-
75 Neo-Assyrian Empire present Confident Expert -
Canal dug around city of Kalhu, called patti hegalli. Used as a moat and as water for farmers. [1]

[1]: (Chadwick 2005, 77)


76 Achaemenid Empire present Confident Expert -
Suez Canal and Atosa Canal. [1] Suez Canal which linked the west and east of the empire by sea was already planned by the Egyptians and was finished by Darius I. [2] Darius ordered a canal dug between Red Sea and the Nile; the commemorative stela suggests his primary transit interest was ’from Egypt through this canal to Persia’. [3]

[1]: (Farazmand 2002)

[2]: (Schmitt 1983[25])

[3]: (Shahbazi 2012, 127) Shahbazi, A Shapour. The Archaemenid Persian Empire (550-330 BCE) Daryaee, Touraj. ed. 2012. The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History. Oxford University Press.


77 Seleucids present Confident Expert -
The rivers Tigris and Euphrates and Eulaios were used for transportation. The Seleucids also constructed a link between the Eulaios river and the sea, and probably maintained the Persian Pallakotas canal. [1] .

[1]: Aperghis, G. G. 2004. The Seleukid Royal Economy: The Finances and Financial Administration of the Seleukid Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p211


78 Ptolemaic Kingdom I present Confident Expert -
"reopening of the old Persian canal joining the Pelusiac branch of the Nile to the Gulf of Suez" [1]

[1]: (Lloyd 2000, 405)


79 Yehuda absent Confident Expert -
At least for transportation purposes; however, the so-called "Jerusalem Water Channel"(built by the Hasmoneans) was a massive drainage tunnel from Jerusalem into the Tyropoeon Valley, built with heavy stone and measuring about a kilometer. [1]

[1]: See the website of the excavation here.


80 Early A'chik absent Confident Expert -
-
81 Late A'chik absent Confident Expert -
According to SCCS variable 14 ’Routes of Land Transport’ only ’unimproved trails’ were used for land transport, not roads.
82 Akan - Pre-Ashanti absent Confident Expert -
-
83 Ashanti Empire absent Confident Expert -
-
84 Icelandic Commonwealth absent Confident Expert -
-
85 Kingdom of Norway II absent Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Júlíusson and Kristissen, pers. comm. 2017


86 Kachi Plain - Aceramic Neolithic unknown Suspected Expert -
-
87 Kachi Plain - Ceramic Neolithic unknown Suspected Expert -
-
88 Kachi Plain - Chalcolithic unknown Suspected Expert -
-
89 Kachi Plain - Pre-Urban Period unknown Suspected Expert -
-
90 Kachi Plain - Urban Period I unknown Suspected Expert -
-
91 Kachi Plain - Urban Period II unknown Suspected Expert -
-
92 Kachi Plain - Post-Urban Period present Inferred Expert -
-
93 Kachi Plain - Proto-Historic Period present Inferred Expert -
-
94 Parthian Empire I present Confident Expert -
e.g. the ’royal canal’ that connected the city of Seleucia to the Euphrates. [1]

[1]: Lukonin, V.G., ‘Political, Social and Administrative Institutions: Taxes and Trade’, in The Cambridge history of Iran: the Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian periods. Part 2, ed. by Ehsan Yar-Shater (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), vol. 3, p.719.


95 Kushan Empire present Inferred Expert -
Construction of large irrigation canals (e.g. Dargom, Bulungur, Narpai and Shahrud) on the Zaravshan (the Salar canal in the Tashkent oasis) have been dated to the Kushana empire. [1] Were these canals used for transport? "The surviving portions of a canal of the K’ang-chu period (fourth century b.c. to first century a.d.) measure as much as 20 m from bank to bank; those dating from the Kushan period (second and third centuries a.d.) measure only 10-11 m, but have steep sides and are much deeper." [2]

[1]: B. N. Mukherjee, ’The Rise and Fall of the Kushana Empire’ (Calcutta, 1988), pp.369-70

[2]: (Mukhamedjanov 1994, 261) Mukhamedjanov, A R. Economy and Social System in Central Asia in the Kushan Age. in Harmatta J, Puri B N and Etemadi G F eds. 1994. History of civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. UNESCO.


96 Sasanid Empire I present Confident Expert -
“A large number of Sasanian sites recorded on the Diyala and Nippur surveys were classified as towns (covering between four and thirty hectares), small urban centres (between thirty and a hundred hectares) and cities (more than a square km in size). Most cities have remains of fortifications and all were on either major canals or river-courses, facilitating access to transport networks as well as drinking water.” [1]

[1]: (Simpson 35) Simpson, St. John. Sasanian Cities: Archaeological Perspectives on the Urban Economy and Built Environment of an Empire In E. Sauer (ed) Sasanian Persia. Between Rome and the Steppes of Eurasia pp. 21-50. CUP. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/69J69WWF/library


97 Hephthalites unknown Suspected Expert -
-
98 Sasanid Empire II present Confident Expert -
“A large number of Sasanian sites recorded on the Diyala and Nippur surveys were classified as towns (covering between four and thirty hectares), small urban centres (between thirty and a hundred hectares) and cities (more than a square km in size). Most cities have remains of fortifications and all were on either major canals or river-courses, facilitating access to transport networks as well as drinking water.” [1]

[1]: (Simpson 35) Simpson, St. John. Sasanian Cities: Archaeological Perspectives on the Urban Economy and Built Environment of an Empire In E. Sauer (ed) Sasanian Persia. Between Rome and the Steppes of Eurasia pp. 21-50. CUP. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/69J69WWF/library


99 Umayyad Caliphate present Confident Expert -
In Egypt, re-excavation of a Roman canal that linked to the Red Sea (Rashidun Period) that was maintained until 774-775 CE when it was blocked by the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur. [1]

[1]: (Raymond 2000, 16)


100 Abbasid Caliphate I present Confident Expert -
Canals were a vital component to the core cities constructed during the Abasid Caliphate. [1] [2]

[1]: Osman S. A. Ismail (1968). The founding of a new capital: Sāmarrā’. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 31, pp 1-13. provides further evidence of bridge building.

[2]: Bloom, Jonathan M., and Sheila Blair, eds. The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture p. 334


101 Delhi Sultanate present Confident Expert -
Canals brought water to north of Delhi. [1] Firuz Shah Tughlaq "created the biggest network of canals known in pre-modern India" [2] -- were these irrigation or transport canals or both?

[1]: Siddiqui, I. H. (1986). Water works and irrigation system in India during pre-Mughal times. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient/Journal de l’histoire economique et sociale de l’Orient, 52-77.

[2]: (Ahmed 2011, 102) Ahmed, Farooqui Salma. 2011. A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century. Pearson Education India.


102 Durrani Empire absent Confident Expert -
-
103 Kansai - Yayoi Period absent Inferred Expert -
The Yayoi villages have yielded evidence of rice paddy fields, irrigation system canals and ditches. -- irrigation canals don’t count as transport infrastructure
104 Kansai - Kofun Period unknown Suspected Expert -
irrigation canals don’t count as transport infrastructure
105 Asuka present Confident Expert -
The Nihon shoki chronicle tells that a canal was dug for two hundred boats used for transporting rocks for the building of the Empress Saimei’s Futatsuki palace located in the inland area of Asuka [1] .

[1]: Brown, D., 1993.The Cambridge History of Japan, vol. 2.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 203.


106 Heian present Inferred Expert -
’But, in fact, the central government used these reports to prepare a table of legitimate uses of corvee labor and the number of workers who could be employed for each use. A few categories of work - repair of government buildings, construction of irrigation canals...’ [1]

[1]: Shively, Donald H. and McCullough, William H. 2008. The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 2: Heian Japan. Cambridge Histories Online Cambridge University Press.p.209


107 Kamakura Shogunate present Confident Expert -
’the opening of the Asahina canal between Kamakura and Musashi Matsura in 1241, for example - the warrior government at Kamakura increased in prosperity, supported by wealth acquired through trade. [1]

[1]: Yamamura, Kozo (ed). 2008. The Cambridge History of Japan. Vol. 3. Cambridge Histories Online Cambridge University Press [sixth edition].p.410


108 Ashikaga Shogunate present Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Yamamura, Kozo (ed). 2008. The Cambridge History of Japan. Vol. 3. Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press [sixth edition].p.514


109 Warring States Japan unknown Suspected Expert -
They existed in previous period, but sources do not say whether they still did at this time. Frequent warfare likely caused major disruptions, so continuity with preceding periods is more difficult to infer.
110 Japan - Azuchi-Momoyama present Confident Expert -
‘In the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1568-1600[CE]), Toyotomi Hideyoshi...ordered Otani Yoshitsugu, the owner of Tsuruga Castle, to build a canal from Oura toward Tasuragu.’ [1] ’A great many of the water supply systems that were laid out during the final decades of the sixteenth century or in the early seventeenth century were constructed principally to provide water to the moats that surrounded the castle or to the canals that functioned both as defensive moats and as sources of drinking water.’ [2]

[1]: Kawanabe, Hiroya, Machiko Nishino, and Masayoshi Maehata (eds.). 2012. Lake Biwa: Interactions between Nature and People. Springer Science & Business Media.p.293

[2]: McClain, James L., John M. Merriman, and Kaoru Ugawa, (eds.) 1997. Edo and Paris: Urban Life and the State in the Early Modern Era. Cornell University Press.p.241


111 Tokugawa Shogunate present Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.334.


112 Iban - Pre-Brooke absent Confident Expert -
-
113 Iban - Brooke Raj and Colonial absent Confident Expert -
-
114 Konya Plain - Early Neolithic absent Confident Expert -
-
115 Konya Plain - Ceramic Neolithic absent Confident Expert -
-
116 Konya Plain - Late Neolithic absent Confident Expert -
-
117 Konya Plain - Early Chalcolithic absent Inferred Expert -
-
118 Konya Plain - Late Chalcolithic absent Inferred Expert -
-
119 Hatti - Old Kingdom unknown Suspected Expert -
Irrigation canals, but these are not transport infrastructure.
120 Konya Plain - Late Bronze Age II unknown Suspected Expert -
Irrigation canals, but these are not transport infrastructure.
121 Hatti - New Kingdom absent Inferred Expert -
Irrigation canals, but these are not transport infrastructure.
122 Neo-Hittite Kingdoms unknown Suspected Expert -
-
123 Phrygian Kingdom unknown Suspected Expert -
-
124 Ilkhanate present Confident Expert -
Repairs of canals. [1] In Iraq, Ala al-Din Juwayni (Ilkhan official, governor of Baghdad) "built a canal from the Euphrates town of Anbar to Kufa and Najaf in an effort to promote agricultural production and allegedly led to the creation of 150 villages along the bank." [1]

[1]: (Gilli-Elewy 174) Gilli-Elewy, Hend in Fuess, Albrecht and Hartung, Jan-Peter. 2014. Court Cultures in the Muslim World: Seventh to Nineteenth centuries. Routledge.


125 Ottoman Emirate unknown Suspected Expert -
maintenance of historic networks?
126 Ottoman Empire II present Confident Expert -
In Egypt, Maqsud Pasha (1642-1643 CE) "ordered the dredging of two canals, the Khalij al-Hakimi and the Khalij al Nasiri, which were threatened with silting." [1]

[1]: (Raymond 2000, 227)


127 Ottoman Empire III present Confident Expert -
In Egypt, Maqsud Pasha (1642-1643 CE) "ordered the dredging of two canals, the Khalij al-Hakimi and the Khalij al Nasiri, which were threatened with silting." [1]

[1]: (Raymond 2000, 227)


128 Latium - Copper Age absent Confident Expert -
The first canal is thought to have been built by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (consul 187 BCE) to drain the lower Po region.
129 Latium - Bronze Age absent Confident Expert -
The first canal is thought to have been built by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (consul 187 BCE) to drain the lower Po region.
130 Latium - Iron Age absent Confident Expert -
The first canal is thought to have been built by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (consul 187 BCE) to drain the lower Po region.
131 Roman Kingdom absent Confident Expert -
The first canal is thought to have been built by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (consul 187 BCE) to drain the lower Po region.
132 Early Roman Republic absent Confident Expert -
The first canal is thought to have been built by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (consul 187 BCE) to drain the lower Po region.
133 Middle Roman Republic present Confident Expert -
The first canal is thought to have been built by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (consul 187 BCE) to drain the lower Po region.
134 Late Roman Republic present Confident Expert -
The first canal is thought to have been built by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (consul 187 BCE) to drain the lower Po region.
135 Western Roman Empire - Late Antiquity present Confident Expert -
-
136 Ostrogothic Kingdom present Inferred Expert -
"The daily operation of the government, the maintenance of the post, road repair, and the like, primarily remained the..." - cannot read more than this, suggests these practices continued in the Ostrogothic Kingdom, presumably operated by Romans. [1]

[1]: (Burns 1991, 74)


137 Exarchate of Ravenna present Inferred Expert -
reference to "canals inside Ravenna". [1] Before late 9th century (aftert this polity’s period) the fossa Asconis was extended. [1] Fossa Augusta. Inland to coast, Ferrara-Padua. Was it still maintained?

[1]: (Deliyannis 2010, 288) Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.


138 Republic of St Peter I unknown Suspected Expert -
Fossa Augusta. Inland to coast, Ferrara-Padua. Was it still maintained?
139 Rome - Republic of St Peter II absent Confident Expert -
There is no mention of the papacy or other powers undertaking canal works during this period; Roman-era canals had, by this point, most likely silted up.
140 Papal States - High Medieval Period absent Confident Expert -
There is no mention of the papacy or other powers undertaking canal works during this period; Roman-era canals had, by this point, most likely silted up.
141 Papal States - Renaissance Period absent Confident Expert -
There is no mention of the papacy or other powers undertaking canal works during this period; Roman-era canals had, by this point, most likely silted up.
142 Papal States - Early Modern Period I present Confident Expert -
-
143 Papal States - Early Modern Period II present Confident Expert -
-
144 Sakha - Early absent Confident Expert -
Built-up transport infrastructure was introduced in the early Russian period (see next sheet).
145 Sakha - Late absent Confident Expert -
-
146 Shuar - Colonial absent Confident Expert -
-
147 Shuar - Ecuadorian absent Confident Expert -
According to SCCS variable 14 ’Routes of Land Transport’ only ‘1’ or ’unimproved trails’ were used for land transport, not roads.
148 Egypt - New Kingdom Thutmosid Period present Confident Expert -
Thutmose I (r c1525-1512 BCE) re-excavated the canals. [1]

[1]: ([11])


149 Egypt - New Kingdom Ramesside Period present Confident Expert -
Thutmose I (r c1525-1512 BCE) re-excavated the canals. [1]

[1]: ([13])


150 Egypt - Thebes-Libyan Period present Inferred Expert -
Present in Ramesside period.
151 Egypt - Saite Period present Confident Expert -
Canal dug linking Nile to the Red Sea during the reign of Neckau II. [1] [2]

[1]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 990) Agut-Labordere, Damien. "The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power." in Garcia, Juan Carlos Moreno ed. 2013. Ancient Egyptian Administration. BRILL.

[2]: (Lloyd 2000, 368)


152 Egypt - Inter-Occupation Period present Inferred Expert -
Canal was dug during the Saite period. Was this still maintained?
153 Numidia unknown Suspected -
-
154 Ptolemaic Kingdom II present Confident Expert -
"reopening of the old Persian canal joining the Pelusiac branch of the Nile to the Gulf of Suez" [1]

[1]: (Lloyd 2000, 405)


155 Axum I unknown Suspected Expert -
-
156 Mauretania unknown Suspected -
-
157 Axum II unknown Suspected -
-
158 Axum III unknown Suspected -
-
159 Middle Wagadu Empire absent Inferred Expert -
Only mention of a canal was a project started by abandoned by a Songhai king.
160 Fatimid Caliphate present Confident Expert -
Festival of the Opening of the Canal in 1050 CE. [1] Used [2] (and therefore maintained). (Silted-up canal between Red Sea and Nile reopened by mid-10th Century - military purpose? Did Fatimids reopen it? [3] ).

[1]: (Raymond 2000, 49)

[2]: (Nicolle 1996, 65-69)

[3]: (Nicolle 1996, 88)


161 Later Wagadu Empire absent Inferred Expert -
Only mention of a canal was a project started by abandoned by a Songhai king.
162 Banu Ghaniya unknown Suspected -
-
163 Zagwe unknown Suspected -
-
164 Mali Empire unknown Suspected Expert -
-
165 Egypt - Mamluk Sultanate I present Confident Expert -
Alexandrian canal lengthened. Employed 40,000-100,000 workers per year. [1] New canal, the Khalij al-Nasiri, dug 1325 CE. [2]

[1]: (Oliver 1977, 39-67)

[2]: (Raymond 2000, 123)


166 Malacca Sultanate unknown Suspected -
-
167 Egypt - Mamluk Sultanate II present Confident Expert -
Alexandrian canal lengthened. Employed 40,000-100,000 workers per year. [1]

[1]: (Oliver 1977, 39-67)


168 Songhai Empire present Confident -
-
169 Egypt - Mamluk Sultanate III present Inferred Expert -
Present within the earlier Mamluk period.
170 Kingdom of Congo unknown Suspected -
-
171 Songhai Empire - Askiya Dynasty present Confident Expert -
Canal dug during reign of Askiya Muhammad Toure in Kabara - Timbuktu region [1]

[1]: (Cissoko 1984, 194)


172 Western Zhou present Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: (Encyclopaedia Britannica 2011, [1])


173 Jin present Inferred Expert -
Present for Western Zhou [1]

[1]: (Encyclopaedia Britannica 2011, [1])


174 Chu Kingdom - Spring and Autumn Period present Inferred -
-
175 Chu Kingdom - Warring States Period present Inferred -
-
176 Qin Empire present Confident -
-
177 Western Han Empire present Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: (Kerr 2013, 36)


178 Eastern Han Empire present Confident Expert -
Lu Bei, grand administrator, dug canals in Dong commandery. [1] Commandery governers had bureaus that dealt with canals. [2]

[1]: (Higham 2009, 160)

[2]: (Bielenstein 1986, 508)


179 Western Jin present Inferred Expert -
"...well-known extensive irrigation works and man-made transport canals linking up the major rivers" [1]

[1]: (Du and Koenig 2012, 169) Du, P and Koenig, A. in Angelakis, Andreas Niklaos. Mays, Larry W. Koutsoyiannis, Demetris. 2012. Evolution of Water Supply Through the Millennia. IWA Publishing.


180 Sui Dynasty present Confident Expert -
Guangtong Canal 584 CE. [1] Luoyang Canal 606 CE and Yongji Canal 608 CE. Jiangdu Canal began construction 610 CE. [2] Tongi Canal (the first section of the Grand Canal which "ran from Luoyang southeast to link up with the Huai valley to the south") and Han Conduit ("extending the Grand Canal south to the Yangzi valley) projects. [3]

[1]: (Xiong 2009, cvi)

[2]: (Xiong 2009, cvii)

[3]: (Xiong 2006, 34-35)


181 Tang Dynasty I present Confident Expert -
Built under Sui and maintained throughout Tang period.
182 Nara Kingdom present Confident Expert -
records of elaborate state sponsored canal systems dating back to at least the 7th century ’The Nihon shoki explains that a new canal had to be dug for the two hundred boats that were used for transporting rocks to the foot of the mountain where the palace’s stone walls were being constructed.’ [1]

[1]: Brown, Delmer M. 1993. The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 1: Ancient Japan. Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press.p.203


183 Tang Dynasty II present Confident Expert -
Built under Sui and maintained throughout Tang period.
184 Jin Dynasty present Confident Expert -
-
185 Mongol Empire present Confident Expert -
"During and after the conquest of the Song, Bayan Chingsang (Grand Councillor Bayan) achieved legendary status. Chinese songs and folklore spoke of him as “Hun- dred Eyes” (bai yan in Chinese), and his red banner could incite panic in Song troops by its sudden appearance. Even so, Qubilai’s chief mandate to Bayan was to kill no more than necessary, and Changzhou was the only city where he ordered wholesale massacre. In 1311 a temple was dedicated to him in Lin’an by imperial decree. During his stay in the south, the development of water transport, both inland and overseas, had impressed him, and in 1282 he advocated both the construction of canals in the north and the overseas transportation of southern grain to the capital. These proposals bore fruit, however, only after he had been dispatched to the Mongolian frontier." [1]

[1]: (Atwood 2004, 38)


186 Great Yuan present Confident Expert -
Yuan dynasty tried to cut a canal across the base of the Shandong peninsula (which was later abandoned in 1280 CE). Yuan also tried to revive the Grand Canal, but was unable to keep Grand Canal in operation due to the enormous cost. [1]

[1]: (Brook, 2010, p.110)


187 Great Ming present Confident Expert -
"The provisioning of these enormous concentrations of troops in Beijing, as well as the large numbers of government officials, spurred considerable spending to improve the canal system that transported the agricultural surpluses of the south to the poorer north." [1]

[1]: (Lorge 2005, 112)


188 Third Scythian Kingdom unknown Suspected -
-
189 Xiongnu Imperial Confederation unknown Suspected Expert -
-
190 Kangju unknown Suspected -
-
191 Late Xiongnu unknown Suspected Expert -
-
192 Rouran Khaganate unknown Suspected Expert -
-
193 Yueban unknown Suspected -
-
194 Eastern Turk Khaganate unknown Suspected Expert -
-
195 Avar Khaganate unknown Suspected -
-
196 Uigur Khaganate unknown Suspected Expert -
Irrigation canals were used, [1] but sources do not mention canals large enough to be used for transportation.

[1]: (Mackerras 1990, 337)


197 Samanid Empire present Confident Expert -
Bukhara had canals. [1] "New canals were ... dug from the Hari Rud and Helmand rivers." [2]

[1]: (Starr 2013) Starr, S. Frederick. 2013. Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia’s Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane. Princeton University Press. Princeton.

[2]: (Negmatov 1997, 88) Negmatov, N N. in Asimov, M S and Bosworth, C E eds. 1997. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume IV. Part I. UNESCO.


198 Khitan I unknown Suspected Expert -
-
199 Kara-Khanids unknown Suspected Expert -
-
200 Kingdom of Georgia II unknown Suspected -
-
201 Xixia present Confident -
-
202 Khwarezmid Empire present Confident -
The famous traveller and geographer, Yaqut, wrote that Khwarazm infrastructure was prosperous and had canals and irrigation works. [1] Canals that channelled water for irrigation were navigable. [2]

[1]: Boyle 1968: 142. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/CFW8EE6Q

[2]: Buniyatov 2015: 85. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SAEVEJFH


203 Chagatai Khanate unknown Suspected Expert -
Present in Mongolian Empire, unknown in this region
204 Tudor and Early Stuart England absent Confident -
Canals were not built in England until the eighteenth century. [1]

[1]: (Bucholz et al 2013: 14) Bucholz, Robert, Newton Key, and R.O. Bucholz. 2013. Early Modern England 1485-1714: A Narrative History. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/detail.action?docID=1166775. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XQGJH96U


205 Early Merovingian present Confident Expert -
620-625 CE repair work was undertaken on the reventments of the Corbulo canal at the Roman castellum of Leiden-Room-burg (Matilo). [1]

[1]: (Lodewijckx ed. 2004, 19) Lodewijckx, M ed. 2004. Bruc ealles well: archaeological essays concerning the peoples of North-West Europe in the first millennium AD. Leuven University Press. Leuven.


206 Lombard Kingdom absent Inferred -
Canals have not been mentioned in the sources consulted.
207 Middle Merovingian present Confident Expert -
620-625 CE repair work was undertaken on the reventments of the Corbulo canal at the Roman castellum of Leiden-Room-burg (Matilo). [1]

[1]: (Lodewijckx ed. 2004, 19) Lodewijckx, M ed. 2004. Bruc ealles well: archaeological essays concerning the peoples of North-West Europe in the first millennium AD. Leuven University Press. Leuven.


208 Duchy of Aquitaine I present Confident -
-
209 Carolingian Empire I unknown Suspected Expert -
The following quotes suggest that there is not much evidence for the use and construction of canals in this polity at this time, with the partial exception of Charlemagne’s failed Fossa Carolina project. However, the fact that Charlemagne could conceive of such a project and attempt suggests that perhaps smaller canals existed.

“Even more grandiose—if failed—the Fossa Carolina project, a canal connecting the Danube and Rhine rivers, underscores Charles’ vision of the eastwar extension of his empire (Figures 13.1 and 13.2). […] With or without canals and major bridges, the rivers of northern Europe offered comfortable travel for people and cheaper transport for bulk goods. Charlemagne and his family sailed down the Rhine, Frisian merchants were towed up it, and countless lesser streams bore boats. Such traffic stmulated the growth of small riverbank settlements, the portus.” [1]

“During the Early to High Medieval period (cf. Table S1) the entire region between Denmark and Italy was controlled by powerful elites which were extraordinarily mobile, building up itinerant kingships and huge economic networks controlled by religious institutions [5]–[8]. Freund [9] highlights the important role of Central European river valleys for the communication networks of these groups. The basic work of Eckholdt [10] features methodological problems. Here, the role of the small rivers seems to be underrepresented [11]. until now there is poor knowledge about the location of inland ports, the explicit medieval navigability of the rivers and the bridging of watersheds between these rivers and their catchment areas [12]. So far there is mainly evidence for small and simple constructed medieval inland ports and hythes [13], [14].” [2]

“At the time when the Grand Canal of China was completed, water-transport in Europe was still in a primitive state. Few canals had been constructed, and rivers were chiefly used as a source of power for water-mills. On many rivers each mill had its weir, to provide an adequate head of water for the mill-wheel, and these weirs were a serious obstacle to navigation. In the later Middle Ages, however, important developments took place in the Netherlands, as we shall see, while throughout the more commercially active countries of Europe improvements were made in the rivers by building stanches in the weirs and also at intervals along the river, between the mills, to reduce the gradient and increase the depth of water in the shallow places [3]. […] The early history of stanches is obscure, but it is practically certain that they were in existence on a number of rivers in Flanders,1 Germany, England, France, and Italy before the end of the thirteenth century. A reference to the winch for a stanch on the Thames at Marlow occurs in 1306.” [3]

[1]: (McCormick 2001: 399-400) McCormick, M. 2001. Origins of the European economy: communications and commerce, A.D. 300-900. Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/MCCORMICK/titleCreatorYear/items/NMB5X3WI/item-list

[2]: (Zielhofer et al. 2014: 1) Zielhofer, C. et al. 2014. Charlemagne’s Summit Canal: An Early Medieval Hydro-Engineering Project for Passing the Central European Watershed. PLOS ONE 9(9): 1-20Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/W2ES4DCA/library

[3]: (Skempton 2017, 4-5) Skempton, A.W. 2017. Canals and river navigations before 1750. In M. Chrimes (ed) Canals and river navigations before 1750 pp. 2-34. Routledge. Seshat URLhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/369SZUSX/library


210 Carolingian Empire II unknown Inferred Expert -
The following quotes suggest that there is not much evidence for the use and construction of canals in this polity at this time, with the partial exception of Charlemagne’s failed Fossa Carolina project. However, the fact that Charlemagne could conceive of such a project and attempt suggests that perhaps smaller canals existed.

“Even more grandiose—if failed—the Fossa Carolina project, a canal connecting the Danube and Rhine rivers, underscores Charles’ vision of the eastwar extension of his empire (Figures 13.1 and 13.2). […] With or without canals and major bridges, the rivers of northern Europe offered comfortable travel for people and cheaper transport for bulk goods. Charlemagne and his family sailed down the Rhine, Frisian merchants were towed up it, and countless lesser streams bore boats. Such traffic stmulated the growth of small riverbank settlements, the portus.” [1]

“During the Early to High Medieval period (cf. Table S1) the entire region between Denmark and Italy was controlled by powerful elites which were extraordinarily mobile, building up itinerant kingships and huge economic networks controlled by religious institutions [5]–[8]. Freund [9] highlights the important role of Central European river valleys for the communication networks of these groups. The basic work of Eckholdt [10] features methodological problems. Here, the role of the small rivers seems to be underrepresented [11]. until now there is poor knowledge about the location of inland ports, the explicit medieval navigability of the rivers and the bridging of watersheds between these rivers and their catchment areas [12]. So far there is mainly evidence for small and simple constructed medieval inland ports and hythes [13], [14].” [2]

“At the time when the Grand Canal of China was completed, water-transport in Europe was still in a primitive state. Few canals had been constructed, and rivers were chiefly used as a source of power for water-mills. On many rivers each mill had its weir, to provide an adequate head of water for the mill-wheel, and these weirs were a serious obstacle to navigation. In the later Middle Ages, however, important developments took place in the Netherlands, as we shall see, while throughout the more commercially active countries of Europe improvements were made in the rivers by building stanches in the weirs and also at intervals along the river, between the mills, to reduce the gradient and increase the depth of water in the shallow places [3]. […] The early history of stanches is obscure, but it is practically certain that they were in existence on a number of rivers in Flanders,1 Germany, England, France, and Italy before the end of the thirteenth century. A reference to the winch for a stanch on the Thames at Marlow occurs in 1306.” [3]

[1]: (McCormick 2001: 399-400) McCormick, M. 2001. Origins of the European economy: communications and commerce, A.D. 300-900. Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/MCCORMICK/titleCreatorYear/items/NMB5X3WI/item-list

[2]: (Zielhofer et al. 2014: 1) Zielhofer, C. et al. 2014. Charlemagne’s Summit Canal: An Early Medieval Hydro-Engineering Project for Passing the Central European Watershed. PLOS ONE 9(9): 1-20Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/W2ES4DCA/library

[3]: (Skempton 2017, 4-5) Skempton, A.W. 2017. Canals and river navigations before 1750. In M. Chrimes (ed) Canals and river navigations before 1750 pp. 2-34. Routledge. Seshat URLhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/369SZUSX/library


211 French Kingdom - Early Valois unknown Suspected Expert -
-
212 Grand Principality of Moscow, Rurikid Dynasty absent Inferred -
-
213 Kassite Babylonia present Inferred Expert -
"Rivers and canals were the main highways wherever possible since water transport, particularly of bulk goods, was easier than that over land." [1]

[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 138) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD.


214 Neo-Babylonian Empire present Confident Expert -
Part of a wide-reaching irrigation system. Part of Sippar was known as the Quay of Sippar, although it has not been discovered. Baker speculates that it might have been on the major watercourse, the King’s Canal [1]

[1]: Baker, H.D. 2012. The Neo-Babylonian Empire. In Potts, D.T. (ed.) A Companion to the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East. Volume II. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. p.920


215 Greco-Bactrian Kingdom absent Inferred Expert -
transportation canal = inferred absent for this region. irrigation canals would likely have been present.
216 Armenian Kingdom present Confident -
There were canals in the region which were largely built and maintained by the enslaved population. [1]

[1]: Payaslian 2007: 16. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/H8NEU6KD


217 Himyar I unknown Suspected Expert -
-
218 Himyar II unknown Suspected Expert -
No references so far, only to irrigation canals.
219 Saffarid Caliphate present Confident -
Canals flowed into cities, such as at Nishapur, where they powered seventy mills and supplied water to the city. [1]

[1]: Bosworth 2007: 423. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/HGHDXVAC


220 Egypt - Tulunid-Ikhshidid Period present Confident Expert -
-
221 Buyid Confederation present Confident Expert -
Rukn al-Duala’s canal marked the beginning of a building renaissance at Shīrāz. [1] Adud al-Dawla restored canal network in Baghdad. [2]

[1]: Busse, H. 1975. Iran under the Būyids. In Frye, R. N. (ed.) The Cambridge History of Iran. Volume 4. The period from the Arab Invasion to the Saljuq’s. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p.281

[2]: (Kennedy 2004, 233) Kennedy, Hugh N. 2004. The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates. Second edition. Pearson Longman. Harlow.


222 Seljuk Sultanate present Inferred Expert -
inferred that they maintained existing canal networks. "rulers and elites financed dams, canals, and irrigation works". [1]

[1]: (Darling 2013, 95) Darling, Linda T. 2013. A History of Social Justice and Political Power in the Middle East: The Circle of Justice from Mesopotamia to Globalization. Routledge.


223 Ayyubid Sultanate present Inferred Expert -
did the Egyptian bureaucracy carry out maintenance on existing canals within Egypt?
224 Timurid Empire present Inferred Expert -
Canal at Fathabad. [1] Was this an irrigation canal?

[1]: (Manz 2007, 85) Manz, Beatrice Forbes. 2007. Power, Politics and Religion in Timurid Iran. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.


225 Yemen - Tahirid Dynasty unknown Suspected Expert -
-
226 Safavid Empire present Confident Expert -
Shah Abbas had canals built to take water from the Alburz Mountains to Ashraf. [1] "In Isfahan in 1566-1567, an Afshar chieftain built a canal from the nearby Zayanda Rud to the Masjid-i Ali". [2]

[1]: Blow, David. Shah Abbas: The Ruthless King Who Became an Iranian Legend. London: I.B. Tauris, 2009. p.178.

[2]: (Newman 2009) Newman, Andrew J. 2009. Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire. I.B. Tauris. New York.


227 Kakatiya Dynasty present Confident -
-
228 Yangshao unknown Suspected Expert -
Canal coded for Longshan period at Tenghualuo (Liuyungang, Jiangsu) "an apparently unwalled dwelling site complete with a canal and a pier, which covers an area of 10 ha (Anonymous 1996a)." [1] For this earlier period, unknown.

[1]: (Demattè 1999, 124)


229 Longshan present Inferred Expert -
"An exception to this is Tenghualuo (Liuyungang, Jiangsu), an apparently unwalled dwelling site complete with a canal and a pier, which covers an area of 10 ha (Anonymous 1996a)." [1] Not necessarily a canal used for transport, but since there was a pier, this can be inferred.

[1]: (Demattè 1999, 124)


230 Eastern Zhou present Inferred -
-
231 Early Wei Dynasty present Inferred Expert -
reference to canal building in Wu state. [1]

[1]: (Tin-bor Hui 2005, n100 88) Tin-bor Hui, Victoria. 2005. War and State Formation in Ancient China and Early Modern Europe. Cambridge University Press.


232 Northern Song present Confident Expert -
T’ai-tsu and T’ai-tsung "had taken a personal interest in the development of the water transport system centered on the Pien Canal." [1]

[1]: (Golas 2015, 147)


233 Southern Song present Confident -
-
234 Jenne-jeno I unknown Suspected Expert -
-
235 Jenne-jeno II unknown Suspected Expert -
-
236 Jenne-jeno III unknown Suspected Expert -
-
237 Jenne-jeno IV unknown Suspected Expert -
-
238 Saadi Sultanate unknown Suspected Expert -
-
239 Early Xiongnu absent Inferred Expert -
Not enough data, though it seems to reasonable infer absence.
240 Xianbei Confederation unknown Suspected Expert -
-
241 Second Turk Khaganate unknown Suspected Expert -
-
242 Early Mongols absent Confident Expert -
-
243 Zungharian Empire unknown Suspected Expert -
-
244 Orokaiva - Pre-Colonial absent Confident Expert -
According to SCCS variable 14 ’Routes of Land Transport’ only ‘1’ or ’unimproved trails’ were used for land transport, not roads.
245 Orokaiva - Colonial absent Confident Expert -
According to SCCS variable 14 ’Routes of Land Transport’ only ‘1’ or ’unimproved trails’ were used for land transport, not roads.
246 Beaker Culture unknown Suspected Expert -
-
247 Atlantic Complex unknown Suspected Expert -
No information found in sources so far.
248 Hallstatt A-B1 unknown Suspected Expert -
-
249 Hallstatt B2-3 unknown Suspected Expert -
-
250 Hallstatt C unknown Suspected Expert -
-
251 Hallstatt D unknown Suspected Expert -
-
252 La Tene B2-C1 absent Inferred Expert -
inferred from lack of mention in sources related to this infatructure
253 La Tene C2-D unknown Suspected Expert -
-
254 Proto-Carolingian present Confident Expert -
620-625 CE repair work was undertaken on the reventments of the Corbulo canal at the Roman castellum of Leiden-Room-burg (Matilo). [1]

[1]: (Lodewijckx ed. 2004, 19) Lodewijckx, M ed. 2004. Bruc ealles well: archaeological essays concerning the peoples of North-West Europe in the first millennium AD. Leuven University Press. Leuven.


255 Proto-French Kingdom unknown Suspected Expert -
-
256 French Kingdom - Late Capetian present Confident Expert -
“At the time when the Grand Canal of China was completed, water-transport in Europe was still in a primitive state. Few canals had been constructed, and rivers were chiefly used as a source of power for water-mills. On many rivers each mill had its weir, to provide an adequate head of water for the mill-wheel, and these weirs were a serious obstacle to navigation. In the later Middle Ages, however, important developments took place in the Netherlands, as we shall see, while throughout the more commercially active countries of Europe improvements were made in the rivers by building stanches in the weirs and also at intervals along the river, between the mills, to reduce the gradient and increase the depth of water in the shallow places. […] The early history of stanches is obscure, but it is practically certain that they were in existence on a number of rivers in Flanders, Germany, England, France, and Italy before the end of the thirteenth century. A reference to the winch for a stanch on the Thames at Marlow occurs in 1306.” [1]

[1]: (Skempton 2017, 4-5) Skempton, A.W. 2017. Canals and river navigations before 1750. In M. Chrimes (ed) Canals and river navigations before 1750 pp. 2-34. Routledge. Seshat URLhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/369SZUSX/library


257 French Kingdom - Late Valois unknown Suspected Expert -
-
258 French Kingdom - Early Bourbon present Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: (Briggs 1998, 65)


259 French Kingdom - Late Bourbon present Confident Expert -
Canal du Midi. [1]

[1]: (Ladurie 1991, 150-151)


260 Sarazm unknown Suspected Expert -
-
261 Andronovo unknown Suspected Expert -
-
262 Koktepe I unknown Suspected Expert -
-
263 Tocharians unknown Suspected Expert -
-
264 Sogdiana - City-States Period present Confident Expert -
"People living along the great trunk-canal not only jointly used itswater andkept it clean and in repair; from the social standpoint they formed a close and stable community, whose economic cohesion waseventually given political form. This process found itsfullest expression inthe7th and early 8thcenturies, when the entire territory of Transoxiana, occupied by settled agricultural inhabitants, was divided into small oasis-states." [1]

[1]: (Zeimal 1983, 250)


265 Hmong - Early Chinese absent Confident Expert -
The Hmong relied on natural waterways: ’Roads. - The communication system in the Miao area consists of land routes and waterways. The most important waterway is the T’ung Ho, because it is navigable for a comparatively long distance, and it goes deep into Miao country. This river starts at Lu Ch’i and goes toward the mouth, extending 17 li to Su-mu Ch’i, ten more li to Hsien-ch’i-t’ang, another 21 li to Nung-t’an, 15 more li to T’an Ch’i, ten more li to Ta-pi-liu, another ten li to Ch’e-ch’i, and 30 more li to Ho Ch’i. From the mouth of the river to Ho Ch’i, some 130 li, the waterway is known as the Wu Ch’i River. Above Ho Ch’i it divides into two branches, south and north: the northern branch, known as the Wan-yung Chiang, runs ten li to Chang-p’ai-chai, where it again divides into two more branches, one flowing westward as the Wan-yung Chiang proper, passing through Ta-chuang and Hsiao-chuang for 50 li to Kan-ch’eng. The other branch, which flows northwestward, is known as Kao-yen Ho, and goes 15 li to Chen-ch’i-so, 15 li to Hsienchen-ying, ten li to Chen-ning-ying, 20 li to P’ing-lang, five li to Wei-che, eight li to Hsün-chien-p’ing, 20 li to Kao-yen-hsin. The branch flowing south of Ho Ch’i, known as the T’o Chiang, flows through Ch’i-k’ou, Chiang-chün-yen, and Mao Chou to Lao-hu-k’ou for about 60 li, and then passing Lao-hu-k’ou it flows from Mu-lung-ti Chiang to Feng-huang for another 70 li.’ [1] ’The parts of the T’ung Ho navigable by small craft are: the Wu Ch’i, 113 li; the Wan-yung Chiang, 60 li; /Illus. 16, 17 on pp. 42, 43/ the Kao-yen Ho, 93 li; and the T’o Chiang, 130 li; totaling 296 li in all. These river courses are difficult to navigate and are not passable all year round. Miao Fang-pei Lan in the section on roads and waterways says: “This river (the T’ung Ho) has precipitous cliffs standing up like daggers, strange rocks clustering like a forest of spears, and rioting cataracts. Through slight negligence a boat can be crashed into pieces. It dries up in autumn and winter, causing difficulty in transportation. It is only in summer when mountain streams rush down from the Miao villages, that small craft may ply here and there. However, the cliffs and rocks become more dangerous as the water rises. Once a sandbank is reached, a day is often spent in lifting the boat across to deep water. The difficulty of crossing such banks is twice as much as in other rivers.”’ [2]

[1]: Ling, Shun-sheng, Yifu Ruey, and Lien-en Tsao 1947. “Report On An Investigation Of The Miao Of Western Hunan”, 66

[2]: Ling, Shun-sheng, Yifu Ruey, and Lien-en Tsao 1947. “Report On An Investigation Of The Miao Of Western Hunan”, 67


266 Ubaid unknown Suspected Expert -
-
267 Uruk present Confident Expert -
irrigation canals [1]

[1]: Kennet & Kennet 2006, 89


268 Early Dynastic present Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Emberling 2015, 253


269 Akkadian Empire present Confident Expert -
[1] Mesopotamia c2000-1500 BCE: "It was an important task for the rulers of Mesopotamia to dig canals and to maintain them, because canals were not only necessary for irrigation but also useful for the transport of goods and armies. The rulers or high government officials must have ordered Babylonian mathematicians to calculate the number of workers and days necessary for the building of a canal, and to calculate the total expenses of wages of the workers." [2] Ensi city governors "responsible for upholding security and law and order in their cities. Maintenance of roads, canals, and major buildings was another of their duties." [3]

[1]: Wall-Romana 1990, 213

[2]: Muroi in J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html

[3]: (Foster 2016, 41) Foster, Benjamin R. 2016. The Age of Agade. Inventing Empire In Ancient Mesopotamia. Routledge. London.


270 Ur - Dynasty III present Confident Expert -
[1] construction of canals. [2]

[1]: Szeląg 2007, 4

[2]: (Leverani 2014, 157) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.


271 Isin-Larsa present Inferred Expert -
"Rivers and canals were the main highways wherever possible since water transport, particularly of bulk goods, was easier than that over land." [1]

[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 138) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD.


272 Amorite Babylonia present Confident Expert -
Oates [1] remarks that the time and labour devoted to the maintenance of canals, in particular, is striking.

[1]: Oates, J. Babylon. Revised Edition. London: Thames and Hudson. p.71


273 Second Dynasty of Isin present Inferred Expert -
"Rivers and canals were the main highways wherever possible since water transport, particularly of bulk goods, was easier than that over land." [1]

[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 138) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD.


274 Bazi Dynasty present Inferred Expert -
"Rivers and canals were the main highways wherever possible since water transport, particularly of bulk goods, was easier than that over land." [1]

[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 138) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD.


275 Dynasty of E present Inferred Expert -
"Rivers and canals were the main highways wherever possible since water transport, particularly of bulk goods, was easier than that over land." [1]

[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 138) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD.


276 Parthian Empire II present Confident Expert -
e.g. the ’royal canal’ that connected the city of Seleucia to the Euphrates. [1]

[1]: Lukonin, V.G., ‘Political, Social and Administrative Institutions: Taxes and Trade’, in The Cambridge history of Iran: the Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian periods. Part 2, ed. by Ehsan Yar-Shater (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), vol. 3, p.719.


277 Abbasid Caliphate II present Confident Expert -
Ibn al-Sa’i mentions female benefactors who built waterways. [1]

[1]: (Bray 2015, xiv) Toorawa, Shawkat M ed. 2015. Consorts of the Caliphs: Women and the Court of Baghdad. NYU Press.


278 Pre-Ceramic Period unknown Suspected Expert -
-
279 Formative Period unknown Suspected Expert -
-
280 Susiana - Muhammad Jaffar unknown Suspected Expert -
-
281 Susiana B unknown Suspected Expert -
-
282 Susiana - Early Ubaid unknown Suspected Expert -
-
283 Susiana - Late Ubaid unknown Suspected Expert -
-
284 Susa I unknown Suspected Expert -
-
285 Susa II absent Inferred Expert -
Certainly in neighbouring Mesopotamia c2000-1500 BCE: "It was an important task for the rulers of Mesopotamia to dig canals and to maintain them, because canals were not only necessary for irrigation but also useful for the transport of goods and armies. The rulers or high government officials must have ordered Babylonian mathematicians to calculate the number of workers and days necessary for the building of a canal, and to calculate the total expenses of wages of the workers." [1]

[1]: Muroi in J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html


286 Susa III absent Inferred Expert -
Certainly in neighbouring Mesopotamia c2000-1500 BCE: "It was an important task for the rulers of Mesopotamia to dig canals and to maintain them, because canals were not only necessary for irrigation but also useful for the transport of goods and armies. The rulers or high government officials must have ordered Babylonian mathematicians to calculate the number of workers and days necessary for the building of a canal, and to calculate the total expenses of wages of the workers." [1]

[1]: Muroi in J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html


287 Elam - Awan Dynasty I present Inferred Expert -
Certainly in neighbouring Mesopotamia c2000-1500 BCE: "It was an important task for the rulers of Mesopotamia to dig canals and to maintain them, because canals were not only necessary for irrigation but also useful for the transport of goods and armies. The rulers or high government officials must have ordered Babylonian mathematicians to calculate the number of workers and days necessary for the building of a canal, and to calculate the total expenses of wages of the workers." [1]

[1]: Muroi in J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html


288 Elam - Early Sukkalmah unknown Suspected Expert -
Certainly in neighbouring Mesopotamia c2000-1500 BCE: "It was an important task for the rulers of Mesopotamia to dig canals and to maintain them, because canals were not only necessary for irrigation but also useful for the transport of goods and armies. The rulers or high government officials must have ordered Babylonian mathematicians to calculate the number of workers and days necessary for the building of a canal, and to calculate the total expenses of wages of the workers." [1]

[1]: Muroi in J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html


289 Macedonian Empire uncoded Undecided -
-
290 Elymais II present Inferred Expert -
"massive capital investments in dams, roads, and canals" [1]

[1]: (Wenke 1981, 314-315) Wenke, Robert J. 1981. Elymeans, Parthians, and the Evolution of Empires in Southwestern Iran. Journal of the American Oriental Society. Vol. 101. No. 3. Jul-Sep. American Oriental Society. pp. 303-315. http://www.jstor.org/stable/602592


291 Ak Koyunlu present Inferred Expert -
"Public works such as seminaries, hostels, markets, warehouses, baths, and canals are also mentioned in the narrative sources, all of which attest to the flourishing condition of the Aqquyunlu capital." [1] Not necessarily transport canal, could be irrigation canal.

[1]: (Woods 1998, 137)


292 Badarian unknown Suspected Expert -
Transport by boat was very important in the Badarian culture (e.g. for trade or fishing), therefore the presence of ports and canals cannot be completely excluded. [1]

[1]: Trigger, B. G. 1983. Ancient Egypt: A Social History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pg. 29.


293 Naqada I absent Inferred Expert -
There is no field evidence of irrigation during the Gerzean as suggested by Krzyzaniak (1977), but some of the design motifs on Gerzean pots may be interpreted as canals." [1] - but these would surely be for irrigation not transport.

[1]: (Hassan 1988, 156)


294 Naqada II unknown Suspected Expert -
There is no field evidence of irrigation during the Gerzean as suggested by Krzyzaniak (1977), but some of the design motifs on Gerzean pots may be interpreted as canals." [1]

[1]: (Hassan 1988, 156)


295 Egypt - Dynasty 0 absent Inferred Expert -
-
296 Egypt - Dynasty I present Confident Expert -
[1] Menes diverted the Nile to build Memphis where it had run. [2]

[1]: (Modelski 2003, 26)

[2]: (Angelakis et al. 2012, 130)


297 Egypt - Dynasty II present Confident Expert -
[1] Menes diverted the Nile to build Memphis where it had run. [2]

[1]: (Modelski 2003, 26)

[2]: (Angelakis et al. 2012, 130)


298 Egypt - Classic Old Kingdom present Confident Expert -
[1] Menes diverted the Nile to build Memphis where it had run. [2] "To improve their communications with the south, the Egyptians dug out navigable channels in the rapids of the First Cataract at Aswan; this policy, initiated in the third millennium before our era, was to be continued by the kings of the Middle Kingdom and later by those of the New Kingdom. [3]

[1]: (Modelski 2003, 26)

[2]: (Angelakis et al. 2012, 130)

[3]: (Mokhtar ed. 1981, 236)


299 Egypt - Late Old Kingdom present Confident Expert -
[1] Menes diverted the Nile to build Memphis where it had run. [2] "To improve their communications with the south, the Egyptians dug out navigable channels in the rapids of the First Cataract at Aswan; this policy, initiated in the third millennium before our era, was to be continued by the kings of the Middle Kingdom and later by those of the New Kingdom. [3]

[1]: (Modelski 2003, 26)

[2]: (Angelakis et al. 2012, 130)

[3]: (Mokhtar ed. 1981, 236)


300 Egypt - Period of the Regions present Inferred Expert -
Polities would have maintained infrastructure that first appeared in earlier periods?
301 Egypt - Middle Kingdom present Confident Expert -
[1] c2000 BCE Bahr Yousuf canal dug to irrigate the Fayyum basin. [2]

[1]: (http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/history12-17.htm#amenemheti)

[2]: (Angelakis et al. 2012, 132)


302 Egypt - Thebes-Hyksos Period present Inferred Expert -
-
303 Egypt - Kushite Period present Inferred Expert -
-
304 Oaxaca - Tierras Largas absent Confident Expert -
Canal irrigation did not appear until the Monte Albán I period. [1]

[1]: Kirkby, A. (1973). "The use of land and water resources in past and present Valley of Oaxaca. Museum of Anthropology, Memoirs No. 5." Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan.


305 Oaxaca - San Jose absent Confident Expert -
Canal irrigation did not appear until the Monte Albán I period. [1]

[1]: Kirkby, A. (1973). "The use of land and water resources in past and present Valley of Oaxaca. Museum of Anthropology, Memoirs No. 5." Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan.


306 Oaxaca - Rosario absent Inferred Expert -
Sources do not suggest there is evidence for the construction of canals during this period (although some small scale irrigation practices may have been used). [1]

[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.


307 Early Monte Alban I absent Confident Expert -
Sources do not suggest there is evidence for the construction of canals during this period. [1]

[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.


308 Monte Alban Late I absent Confident Expert -
Sources do not suggest there is evidence for the construction of canals during this period. [1]

[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.


309 Monte Alban II absent Confident Expert -
Sources do not suggest there is evidence for the construction of canals during this period. [1]

[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.


310 Monte Alban III absent Confident Expert -
Sources do not suggest there is evidence for the construction of canals during this period. [1] Gary Feinman (pers. comm.) writes that small-scale irrigation, such as check-dams and small canals were in use. However, these seem to be used for agriculture rather than transportation. [2]

[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.

[2]: (Feinman, Gary. Personal Communication with Jill Levine, Dan Hoyer, and Peter Turchin. Email. April 2020)


311 Monte Alban IIIB and IV absent Inferred Expert -
Although canals were present, they would not have been large enough to use as transport. [1]

[1]: Kirkby, A. (1973). "The use of land and water resources in past and present Valley of Oaxaca. Museum of Anthropology, Memoirs No. 5." Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan.


312 Monte Alban V Early Postclassic absent Inferred -
-
313 Monte Alban V Late Postclassic absent Inferred -
-
314 Monte Alban V absent Inferred Expert -
Although canals were present, they would not have been large enough to use as transport. [1]

[1]: Kirkby, A. (1973). "The use of land and water resources in past and present Valley of Oaxaca. Museum of Anthropology, Memoirs No. 5." Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan.


315 Yemen - Qasimid Dynasty unknown Suspected Expert -
-
316 Ottoman Empire Late Period absent Confident -
-
317 Republic of Venice III present Confident Expert -
Canals. [1]

[1]: (Ching and Jarzombek 2017, 457) Francis D K Ching. Mark M Jarzombek. 2017. A Global History of Architecture. Second Edition. John Wiley & Sons.


318 Republic of Venice IV present Confident Expert -
Canals. [1]

[1]: (Ching and Jarzombek 2017, 457) Francis D K Ching. Mark M Jarzombek. 2017. A Global History of Architecture. Second Edition. John Wiley & Sons.


319 Five Dynasties Period present Confident Expert -
“The developed canal network was vital for Kaifeng to prosper in the 6th~12th centuries. Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties and the Five Dynasties, Bianzhou gradually became the transportation junction, and it was also called a “metropolis rejoined by water and land” [29]. […] In the Later Liang Dynasty (during the period of the Five Dynasties), in order to acquire the material support of the region in the south of the Yangtze River, Zhu Wen utilized the advantageous water transportation of Bianzhou and founded the capital in Kaifeng.”§Huang, W. et al. 2021. Rise and Fall of the Grand Canal in the Ancient Kaifeng City of China: Role of the Grand Canal and Water Supply in Urban and Regional Development. Water 13(14): 1932. REF§Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/RSXWXJVJ/library§REF§
320 Late Tiwanaku present Confident -
“At its peak, Tiwanaku held power over a large part of present-day eastern and southern Bolivia, northwestern Argentina, northern Chile, and southern Peru. Its influence was largely due to its impressive “raised-field system” of agriculture, which used elevated planting beds separated from each other by small irrigation canals. The canals were designed to keep the crops from freezing on cold nights by preserving the heat from the daytime sun and for growing algae and aquatic plants used as fertilizer.” [1] “Pumapunku… is the second most important structure at Tiwanaku (Figure 6.13). It measures 155 m x 122 m… Excavations done by the CIAT, between 1977 and 1978, and by the Instituto Nacional de Arqueología, in 1989, exposed the perimeter of the base walls and sectors of the upper platform. A main drainage canal can be seen today in the southwestern corner.” [2]

[1]: (Middleton 2015: 947) Middleton, John. 2015. World Monarchies and Dynasties. Volume 1-3, A-Z. London: Routledge. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/7N3PNVCB

[2]: (Albarracin-Jordan 1999: 61) Albarracin-Jordan, Juan V. 1999. The Archeaology of Tiwanaku: The Myths, History, and Science of an Ancient Andean Civilization. Bolivia: Impresión P.A.P. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/P7MDWPAP


321 Hohokam Culture present Confident -
The Sonoran Desert people built extensive canal works and irrigation systems along the Salt and Gila rivers. [1] The Hohokam built a total of over 700 miles of irrigation canals, most of which were 8-12 miles long and around 50 feet wide and 12 feet deep. [2]

[1]: “Hohokam Culture (U.S. National Park Service)”. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/34YMDDCN/library

[2]: Barnhart 2018: 137, 142. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VPVHH2HJ


322 Antebellum US present Confident -
Canals were used for expansion into the west and there was a huge investment in them during this period due to them being the preferred method of transporting heavy goods such as coal, wood and ore. [1]

[1]: Volo and Volo 2004: 4, 55, 316. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SIB5XSW97.


323 Austria - Habsburg Dynasty I unknown Suspected -
The sources consulted thus far have only mentioned them in later periods.
324 Napoleonic France present Confident -
Canals were built and maintained across France. [1]

[1]: Clapham 1955: 147-150. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/2QKQJQM3.


325 Early United Mexican States present Confident -
“The Porfirian focus on Mexico City’s built environment spilled over into other landscape features. Water itself was not necessarily detrimental to a city nor was water inherently insalubrious; flooding or “disorderly” water became the problem. Attempts to control and manage the waters around the capital persisted through time—from the early Aztec dikes that divided Lake Texcoco to the Spaniard Enrico Martinez’s open canal through the mountains in 1697. But no comparable project shared the ambitions and aspirations of the Grand Drainage Project that started in 1886… The momentous undertaking included a thirty-mile canal with four aqueducts and bridges, a six-mile tunnel coated with brick and Portland cement, and a mile and a half cut through the mountainous terrain.23 Rerouting infectious streams and conserving precious clean water required a firm state commitment and a significant financial investment. By completion, in 1901, the project’s footprint extended well beyond its symbolic importance: the canal used 22 million bricks, 25,000 cubic meters of mortar, 1.5 million meters of lumber, and untold numbers of laborers lives.” [1]

[1]: (Wakild 2011: 521-522) Wakild, Emily. 2011. “Environment and Environmentalism,” in A Companion to Mexican History and Culture, ed. William H. Beezley. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. pp518–37. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BMVQRFNJ


326 Spanish Empire II present Confident Expert 1716 CE 1814 CE
"Putting the new economic doctrines into practice, Carlos III and Aranda ordered dramatic new public works such as the Canal of Aragon, they inaugurated regular stagecoach service to the major cities, and they established a royal school of agriculture at Aranjuez. Through their efforts, Spain had its first census in 1786, before even Britain.(Bergamini 1974: 93) Bergamini, John D. 1974. The Spanish Bourbons: The History of a Tenacious Dynasty. New York: G. P Putnam’s Sons. https://archive.org/details/spanishbourbons00john. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5A2HNKTF
327 Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty II present Confident Expert -
In the Russian Empire, significant canal construction occurred from the early 18th to the 19th century:

Vyshny Volodsky System (1757): Started at Tver on the Volga, it connected through Vyshny Volochok and followed the Volkhov River to the Neva, serving as the main link between Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Marinskaya System (1731-1799): Linked the Volga tributary Sheksna with Lake Onega and the Neva, playing a key role in connecting Siberia with European Russia.

Tikhvin System (1811): Connected the Volga tributary Mologa with Lake Ladoga, primarily used for timber transport.

Oginski Canal (1804): Linked the Dnieper and Njemen, running from the Dnieper through the Pripet to Pinsk.

Berezina Canal (1805): Connected the western Dvina and Dnieper, going through Lake Sepel into the Berezina.

Württemberg Canal (1828): Joined the Marinskaya system with the Northern Dvina, modernized during the last war.

These canals were part of a larger effort to improve transportation and trade, significantly enhancing Russia’s internal connectivity and economic development during this period. [1]

[1]: Stefan T. Possony, “European Russia’s Inland Waterways - Past, Present, and Future,” U.S Naval Institute Proceedings Zotero link: VKJJBJ5B


328 Austro-Hungarian Monarchy present Confident -
Present since previous polity. “Industry and trade in cities like Brünn / Brno, Pest, and Trieste / Trst also benefited from new links created by Austria’s growing transportation infrastructure, which in turn stimulated increased economic growth. New highway projects, canals, river regulation, and mountain pass systems produced a rapid increase in continental transport and trade, as well as cutting the time it took to travel between economically linked destinations, often by over 50 percent.” [1]

[1]: (Judson 2016: 114-115) Judson, Pieter M. 2016. The Habsburg Empire: A New History. Cambridge, USA; London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BN5TQZBW


329 Golden Horde present Confident -
Canals were dug to supply water to settlements and to redirect water to irrigate fields. [1]

[1]: Khakimov and Favereau 2017: 545, 645, 653. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QL8H3FN8


330 Anglo-Saxon England I absent Inferred -
No evidence of canals written in the sources consulted.
331 Us Reconstruction-Progressive present Confident -
Canals were present across the US since preceding period. For many decades they were the preferred method of transporting heavy goods such as coal, wood and ore. [1]

[1]: Volo and Volo 2004: 4, 55, 316. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SIB5XSW97.


332 Chaco Canyon - Late Bonito phase present Confident -
present ♥ “Because the Chacoans were skilled builders, Gordon Vivian was sure that they must have had some way of collecting and distributing this water. He soon found evidence of an efficient irrigation system. Later, Gwinn expanded on his father’s work. The Chacoan irrigation system depended on dams and canals. After a rainstorm a dam at the mouth of each side canyon collected the water that fell from the cliff top. The water was then channeled into a stone-lined canal, which emptied into a head gate with narrow openings that could be blocked or left open to control the water’s flow into ditches. The ditches led to large plots of many individual gardens. In the summer of 1967, Gwinn Vivian excavated a dam that had been built across one of the main side canyons. It was a massive structure more than 120 feet long and 7 feet high. The water emptied into a canal through a gate near the middle of the dam. The long, curving, masonry-lined canal directed the water to 24 acres of bordered gardens that were laid out in neat rectangles. Gwinn Vivian calculated that a summer thunderstorm that produced 1 1/4 inches of rain in an hour would have provided the Penasco Blanco gardens with 540,000 gallons of water—half a gallon per square foot. The Chacoan genius for building and engineering allowed a large number of people to live in that otherwise dry and rugged canyon.” [1]

[1]: (Vivian and Anderson 2002: 30) Vivian, R. Gwinn and Anderson, Margaret. 2002. Chaco Canyon, Digging for the Past. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/996XW2NW


333 Plantagenet England absent Inferred -
There is no mention of canals in the sources used.
334 British Empire I present Confident -
Present throughout the Empire. [1]

[1]: (Colquhoun 1811: 228-233) Colquhoun, Patrik. 1814. Treatise on the Wealth, Power and Resources of the British Empire in Every Quarter of the World Etc. Jos. Mawman. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/3SNZA6FJ


335 Late Classic Tikal present Confident -
“Maya agriculture was rainfall-dependent, and farmers used various water or agricultural systems including aguadas, artificial reservoirs, raised fields, dams, canals, and terraces (Dunning et al. 1997).” [1] “Peter Harrison (1993) correlates reservoir building with the accelerated construction of monumental architecture in Tikal’s core, especially beginning in the Early Classic. Quarrying of reservoirs provided building materials for monumental construction projects, including limestone fill, wall facing, and plaster (Scarborough 1993). At Calakmul, which is surrounded by bajos (low-lying seasonal swamps), there are extensive canal systems as well as thirteen reservoirs and aguadas (Braswell et al. 2004; Folan et al. 1995).” [2]

[1]: (Lucero 2006: 35) Lucero, Lisa J. 2006. Water and Ritual: The Rise and Fall of Classic Maya Rulers. Austin: University of Texas Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NSX2SNWU

[2]: (Lucero 2006: 158) Lucero, Lisa J. 2006. Water and Ritual: The Rise and Fall of Classic Maya Rulers. Austin: University of Texas Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NSX2SNWU


336 Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty I absent Confident Expert 1614 CE 1706 CE
The development of canals in Russia transitioned significantly during the early 18th century under Peter the Great. Prior to this period, Russia primarily relied on its natural river systems for transportation and trade, with rivers interconnected by simple boat portages. Peter the Great’s exposure to the canal systems in Holland inspired him to initiate the construction of engineered waterways in Russia. This marked a pivotal shift from reliance on natural waterways to the systematic building of canals, enhancing trade, transportation, and military logistics within the Russian Empire. [1]



The first canal was a project to link the Don with the Oka and the Volga. A system of canals was built connecting the Volga and the Neva. This so-called Vyshny Volodsky system started at the city of Tver (now Kalinin) on the Volga and opened in 1706. [2]

[1]: Stefan T. Possony, “European Russia’s Inland Waterways - Past, Present, and Future,” U.S Naval Institute Proceedings, https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1947/august/european-russias-inland-waterways-past-present-and-future. Zotero link: VKJJBJ5B

[2]: Н. П. ИнфоРост, “ГПИБ | Николаев А. С. Краткий Исторический Очерк Развития Водяных и Сухопутных Сообщений Торговых Портов в России : [В 3-х ч.]. - СПб., 1900. Zotero link: 24FNQ62E


337 Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty I present Confident Expert 1706 CE 1775 CE
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338 Soviet Union present Confident Expert 1923 CE 1991 CE
No other country in the world has under­taken such an extensive program of con­struction of new canals and restoration of old ones, as has the Soviet Union. The Soviet waterways and the newly constructed and reconstructed canals, in particular, play both an economic and a strategic role. They not only provide additional navigable waterways and thus enlarge the transportation network, but they also now connect five seas—the Baltic, the White, the Black, the Sea of Azov, and the Caspian—on the European periphery of the Soviet Union. Thus, there exists an efficient inner waterway system, which per­mits the rapid transit of small naval vessels from one sea to another, since all the new and reconstructed navigable canals have a uniform depth of 3.65 meters (slightly over 12 feet). This allows 5,000-ton vessels to cruise freely and crisscross the entire Euro­pean part of the country, and to sail at will to any of the five seas surrounding the area. [1]

[1]: Victor P. Petrov, “Soviet Canals,” United States Naval Institute Proceedings (1967), https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1967/july/soviet-canals. Zotero link: RKX3AN4I


339 Anglo-Saxon England II absent Inferred -
No evidence of canals written in the sources consulted.
340 Middle and Late Nok absent Inferred -
"There are [...] no signs of communal construction activities, and no preserved facilities to store agricultural surplus. [...] It has to be considered that the preservation of features in Nok sites is generally poor and that the amount of data is not too large and regionally restricted to a rather small key study area." [1]

[1]: (Breunig and Ruppe 2016: 253) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/ES4TRU7R.


341 Kanem unknown Suspected -
The near-absence of archaeologically identified settlements makes it particularly challenging to infer most building types. "While the historical sources provide a vague picture of the events of the first 500 years of the Kanem-Borno empire, archaeologically almost nothing is known. [...] Summing up, very little is known about the capitals or towns of the early Kanem- Borno empire. The locations of the earliest sites have been obscured under the southwardly protruding sands of the Sahara, and none of the later locations can be identified with certainty." [1]

[1]: (Gronenborn 2002: 104-110)


342 Middle and Late Nok absent Inferred -
"There are [...] no signs of communal construction activities, and no preserved facilities to store agricultural surplus. [...] It has to be considered that the preservation of features in Nok sites is generally poor and that the amount of data is not too large and regionally restricted to a rather small key study area." [1]

[1]: (Breunig and Ruppe 2016: 253) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/ES4TRU7R.


343 Dutch Empire present Confident -
Canals used for transport were and are typical of Dutch cities. "Persistent sentiments of fear and insecurity will have been an added impetus for the inhabitants of Batavia to create a protected and safe environment in the city. As the name suggests, what was in essence a Dutch city was constructed there, albeit very gradually and with some reliance on improvisation: a grid of streets and canals, probably inspired by the ideas of Simon Stevin, of blocks of stone houses with tiled roofs, all enclosed by city walls and fortifications. Indeed, not only in terms of design and architecture but also in terms of its institutions, Batavia seemed a typical Dutch town, with a Board of Aldermen housed in the town hall and a civic militia." [1]

[1]: (Emmer and Gommans 2020: 265) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/AI9PPN7Q/collection.


344 Oyo unknown Suspected -
"Contexts that could shed light on the dynamics of social structure and hierarchies in the metropolis, such as the royal burial site of Oyo monarchs and the residences of the elite population, have not been investigated. The mapping of the palace structures has not been followed by systematic excavations (Soper, 1992); and questions of the economy, military system, and ideology of the empire have not been addressed archaeologically, although their general patterns are known from historical studies (e.g, Johnson, 1921; Law, 1977)." [1] Regarding this period, however, one of the historical studies mentioned in this quote also notes: "Of the earliestperiod of Oyo history, before the sixteenth century, very little is known." [2] Law does not then go on to provide specific information directly relevant to this variable.

[1]: (Ogundiran 2005: 151-152)

[2]: (Law 1977: 33)


345 British East India Company present Confident -
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346 Nawabs of Bengal present Confident -
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347 British Empire IIIIIIIIII present Confident -
The existing transport infrastructure in the UK was developed throughout the Empire at great expense. [1]

[1]: ( Porter 1999: 129, 254-56, 351, 529, 660, 685, 702) Porter, Andrew, ed. 1999. The Oxford History of the British Empire: The Nineteenth Century, vol. 3, 5 vols. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/GTF9V4CG


348 Sena Dynasty present Confident -
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349 Holy Roman Empire - Hohenstaufen and Welf Dynasties present Confident -
In Italy, canals were being built by 1200. [1]

[1]: Wilson 2016: 581. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/N5M9R9XA